Chapter 2

Author’s Note: Thanks, everyone, for joining us in the Book 5 adventure. I hope you find that this is an enjoyable ride for our main players. Keep the feedback coming!

Thursday passed like most of our days in California had. I spent a few hours at Petey’s production company, where I now maintained an office. There wasn’t a ton I needed to do day-to-day, but I liked being around, soaking up the environment and gleaning what I could about the business. If nothing else, it helped me understand how to talk the talk.

Kat and Rita mostly were home bodies, going out for errands and tennis, but otherwise they were mostly doting mothers to John Junior and Katie. Jess had Infinity on autopilot. Crystal and Katie had Houston firmly under control. Nicole was a natural in Vegas. And Alix, to no one’s surprise, had taken LA by storm. She was a California girl at heart, I realized, and she thrived in this environment. She knew how to handle difficult clients – which really was the norm in LA – but also had such enthusiasm for the job and the city that she came off as genuine. And being genuine was one of two things you couldn’t buy in this city, the other thing being power or “juice” as I had learned to call it.

On Friday morning, we loaded up in another new car, a Cadillac Escalade, and all went to the Santa Monica farmers market. It wasn’t the sexiest ride, but with three girlfriends and two kids, there really wasn’t an alternative for getting around together. Kat, in particular, loved shopping at the market. She had loved immersing herself in the food scene and could spot the chefs who shopped there.

There was the usual chill coming off the Pacific that cut down the bright sun, and even though it was in the 60s, it felt colder. We moved around the market with purpose, picking up ingredients for a simple family supper with Juliet. I wanted to make pasta. Kat got a couple beautiful pieces of halibut. We grabbed a litany of vegetables and were on our way.

“I can’t lie,” Rita said on the ride home. “I am looking forward to tonight more than I have anything else in the past five months.”

“You and me both,” Kat agreed, putting a hand on Rita’s knee as they rode together in the third row. “It’s kind of cruel to go through six months of total sleep deprivation this way!”

We laughed. At home, Jess arranged a variety of fresh flowers into vases around the house. We played with the kids. Rita pumped her last breast milk to get her to the six-month mark, and we drank wine with lunch. Kat and I prepped a bevy of vegetables during the afternoon, and we relaxed, letting the anticipation build. As the late afternoon sun crept over the house, we adjourned to the terrace while the kids took their final nap.

“I have to admit it,” Rita said, “I missed getting high so much.”

Jess had brought out the bong, and offered it to Rita, who lit it and greedily sucked up a huge hit. She passed it to Jess, then stood up and sat on my lap, blowing the smoke into my mouth, which I happily accepted.

“I’m so fucking horny,” she said.

Rita ground her ass into my lap. It looked better than it ever had, more of a firm bubble than it was in the past, and her yoga pants showcased just how drool-worthy it had become. She and Kat both had a sense of vanity. It was no surprise. And they had worked very hard to return their bodies to meet and then exceed their pre-pregnancy beauty.

“We are going to have a total fuckfest tonight,” I said.

“No starting early, you two,” Kat admonished us and she put the bong to her lips.

“I’m super excited, too,” Jess said, reveling in the growing cloud of legal marijuana smoke that settled in around us on the terrace. “We have had such an amazing journey, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t eager to have all of us partying again.”

“Juliet is getting here at about five o’clock?” Rita asked, raising the bong up again.

“Yes,” I confirmed. “She’s doing some voice-overs not too far, so we can get started pretty early.”

“This will be the best happy hour ever,” Kat said.

“Don’t forget dinner,” Jess reminded her.

“It’s all dessert tonight,” Kat said with a laugh.

“Is it five yet?” Rita asked, smoothing her hands over the sides of her flowing red dress. Her heels clacked against the wood floor.

“It’s only 4:59,” Kat said, holding back a laugh.

She looked stunning in a tight yellow dress. They both fit into pre-pregnancy clothes and were proud of it.

“Juliet texted me eleven minutes ago that she was on her way,” I said. “It shouldn’t take her any longer than fifteen to get here.”

“Four more minutes,” Rita said. “I can make it.”

“You are too cute,” Jess said, setting down a bowl of baguette slices covered in a linen dish towel on the bar.

The kids were on the third floor with Melanie, who had volunteered to watch them tonight even though we usually gave her weekends off.

“Here, have another glass of this,” I said, refilling Rita with a second pour of Chablis.

“It is good,” she said. “I love crisp wines like this.”

“It’s going to suck when we don’t have Wally’s this close all the time,” I said.

“I have a feeling we’ll be spending plenty of time out here,” Kat said.

Jess caught my eye and smiled. She was the picture of a hostess in her off-shoulder white chiffon dress. She wore sandals and had on light makeup. I could see by the prominence of her erect nipples that she had decided to forego a bra. I was really looking forward to the evening, too.

A few moments later, the doorbell rang. Juliet pulled her Prada sunglasses off and smiled when she walked into the room. The girls all squealed and mobbed her, and it turned into a mass greeting of hugs and kisses.

“Where are my sweet JJ and Katie?” Juliet said with delight.

“Melanie is with them upstairs,” Jess said.

“I’ll be right back,” Juliet said. “I have presents for them!”

“You’re going to spoil them rotten,” Kat said.

“John and I already went over this,” she said with a laugh. “Everyone needs an Aunt Juliet.”

“You mean an Oscar nominee?” Rita said.

“Hey! That’s exactly what John said!” Juliet cried.

“We’re so proud of you, Juliet!” Jess said.

“Seriously!” Kat added.

“You’re so sweet,” Juliet said with a smile. “I’ll be right back.”

“Let’s get out the appetizers,” Rita suggested. “We’ll have them ready when you come back down. I’m starving.”

As Juliet’s heels clacked against the wooden stairs, Kat shot a sly look at Rita.

“Don’t you mean craving, sweetie?” Kat said.

“Fuck yes,” Rita said with a laugh.

Jess laid out the appetizers, an impressive charcuterie board that Kat had assembled. She had become adept at food presentation during the past year in particular.

“This is gorgeous,” Jess said, intentionally drawing it out.

“Come on, girl,” Rita said. “Don’t tease me.”

“Okay, okay,” Jess said with a grin. “And the pièce de résistance.”

She reached under the counter and pulled out a gaudy, glorious Christofle sterling silver tray. I’d bought it as a kind of gag gift for the occasion. Earlier that afternoon, Jess had filled a matching Christofle pedestal bowl with finely ground cocaine. On the tray, she had cut thirty exquisite lines of blow.

Like greedy sorority girls, Kat and Rita crowded around the tray as soon as Jess set it down on the counter.

“This is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” Kat said, putting her eyes nearly level with the tray.

“I want to bury my face in that bowl,” Rita said.

Both of them had that wild look in their eyes. It was familiar, but I hadn’t seen it in many, many months. Staying sober for pregnancy and breastfeeding had seemed effortless for them, but now it was clear discipline and restraint needed to go by the wayside. And why not? We were in the City of Angels, the land of excess.

“Jess, where’s the straw?” Kat asked.

“Nuh-uh,” Jess said, relishing her power. “Not until Juliet comes back.”

“You are such a cruel bitch,” Rita said playfully.

I interrupted the girls’ admiration for the cocaine with the loud pop from a magnum of Dom Perignon.

“Okay, that’ll help tide us over!” Kat said.

I poured five generous glasses of bubbly, and all three girls attacked theirs happily. The wine wasn’t too cold, with extremely fine bubbles, and hit the spot. As excited as they were, I was probably the most eager for the evening. I knew that, while we loved having a family, it was time to cut loose again. We all wanted it. We loved the adrenaline and uncertainty that came with partying like we always had. Kat and Rita polished off their glasses almost as fast as Jess had, so I refilled them and smiled when I heard Juliet’s heels hit the stairs again. I carried her glass to the foot of the stairs, holding it out for her. Since she was shorter than I was, she liked when I met her where she could stand a couple stairs up and be at eye level with me. I handed her the glass, and she kissed me. I let my hands run down her ass cheeks, which were firm in a tight, stylish romper.

“This is going to be a really fun night,” I said for only her to hear.

She smiled brightly and walked toward the girls.

“So what’s the big surprise tonight?” Juliet asked, her voice tinged by equal parts anticipation and curiosity.

Jess smiled right back at her and stepped aside from the bar.

“Kat and Rita are done with breastfeeding,” she said. “So we’re celebrating.”

“Oh my god,” Juliet said, her eyes drawn hypnotically to the cocaine. “First, congratulations! And, second, what are we waiting for?”

“Nothing,” Jess said, licking her lips.

She produced a glass straw and held it out toward Rita, who stood closest to her.

“No, Kat should go first,” Rita said. “She has had to wait the longest. And she’s been such a good girl.”

I could feel the sexual tension building up already.

“Are you sure?” Kat asked sweetly.

“Positive,” Rita said and gave her the straw.

Kat smiled as she took the straw and almost bounced to the tray.

“I love how gaudy this is,” she said, running a finger up and down the sterling silver, her voice laced with excitement.

Kat was positively giddy as she put the straw in her nose and leaned down. She hooked her hair behind her ear and gave me a little smile before she forcefully inhaled a line. She let out a low, satisfied moan and made eye contact with me while she switched nostrils and snorted a second line.